Gift Box Template

How to make the box

1. Measure the gift with a ruler: length, width and height at the widest points. Add 2 to 3 mm (about ⅛ in) to each, and enter those as the inside size.
2. Print at 100% (“Actual size” in the print dialog, never “Fit to page”). Check the black bar in the legend at the bottom of the sheet with a ruler: it must be 20 mm. If it is 19 mm, the printer shrank the page and the box will come out about 5% too small.
3. Score every dashed line before you cut. Run an empty ballpoint pen or the back of a butter knife along a ruler, pressing firmly. On card thicker than about 0.2 mm, folds crack and wander without a score. Score the curved lines of a pillow box freehand, slowly, following the arc.
4. Cut along the solid lines with scissors or a craft knife. Grey shaded areas are glue tabs: keep them.
5. Fold every scored line once, then flatten it again, before any glue goes on.
6. Glue in this order. Tuck box: put glue on the long side tab and press it under the free edge of the panel at the other end of the row, from the inside, for 30 seconds. Then fold in the two small dust flaps at one end and tuck that end's lid in. Lidded box: stand the walls up, glue each corner tab to the inside of the short wall next to it, one corner at a time, and hold each with a paper clip until it sets. Do the lid the same way. Pillow box: glue the side tab to the inside edge of the other face, let it dry flat, then press the curved ends in, one flap over the other.

Questions

Is this box template generator free, and do I get a PDF?

Yes, both. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no paid version. The PDF is made in your own browser, with sharp vector cut and fold lines over a 300 dpi image of the design, on A4 or US Letter. The PNG is the same sheet at 300 dpi with the lines drawn in, for printing from a photo app. The page picks Letter for US and Canadian browser settings and A4 for everywhere else; switch it with the Paper buttons.

What size should I enter?

The inside size: the gift plus 2 to 3 mm each way. The template adds the card thickness for you. A fold bends round the middle of the card, so each panel is the inside size plus one thickness, and the summary under the template shows the box's outside size too. Worked example: a 70 × 45 × 30 mm tuck box on 0.3 mm card has a 70.3 mm front panel, measures about 70.6 × 45.6 × 30.6 mm outside, and its flat template is 246 × 165 mm, so it prints sideways on one A4 or Letter sheet. The same box at 80 mm long needs a 266 mm long template: that still fits A4 but not Letter.

Why does it say my box is too big?

Every line has to stay at least 6 mm inside the paper edge, because most home printers cannot print the outer 3 to 5 mm. A tuck box's template is two lengths plus two widths long, so it grows fast: the largest cube that fits on A4 is 51 mm (53 mm on Letter). The lidded box prints its base and lid on separate pages when needed and can be a 65 mm cube on A4 (67 mm on Letter). When a box is too big, the page tells you and offers the largest box of the same shape that fits; one click puts those numbers in.

Can I make a pillow box on A4?

Yes. A pillow box suits flat gifts: jewellery, a gift card, sweets, a scarf. On A4 it can be up to about 163 mm long and 81 mm wide with a 57 mm puff, or up to 92 mm wide for a squarer one. The height you enter is how thick it puffs out, and it can be at most 70% of the width; beyond that the curved ends will not close. The length is measured down the middle, between the curved folds, where the box is thickest. Treat its size as approximate: the inside is a curve, not a rectangle.

Which paper weight should I use?

Card of 250 to 300 g/m² (about 90 to 110 lb cover) is about 0.3 mm thick, the default here, and makes a box that holds its shape. 160 to 200 g/m² card (about 0.2 mm) works for small boxes and pillow boxes and goes through almost any printer. Plain 80 g/m² office paper (0.1 mm) makes a floppy box, fine for a test print. Many home printers take card up to 250 or 300 g/m² only through the rear or single-sheet feed, so check the printer's manual before buying a pack. Change the thickness field to match: it shifts each panel by the difference.

How do I cut this gift box on a Cricut or Silhouette?

Press Download SVG cut file. The file is the same net at true size, with its width and height written in millimetres, so it needs no resizing: the red lines are in a layer called cut and the blue fold lines in a layer called score. It is not limited to A4 or Letter. A 70 × 45 × 30 mm tuck box makes a 256 × 175 mm file that fits a 12 × 12 in mat (the mat cuts about 11.5 × 11.5 in); a 150 × 150 × 60 mm lidded box puts base and lid side by side on 483 × 281 mm, which needs a 12 × 24 in mat. The line under the buttons always says which mat your box needs, and warns when it is bigger than both.

Cricut Design Space: choose Upload, then Upload Image, pick the .svg and add it to the canvas. Check that the size panel shows the width and height given under the buttons on this page; if it does not, type them in with the proportion lock closed. Ungroup, select the score layer and change its Operation from Basic Cut to Score (a scoring stylus on an Explore, the scoring wheel or stylus on a Maker). Then select both layers and press Attach, or Design Space will move the score lines off the box when it lays out the mat. For card, pick the material setting that matches your stock: “Medium Cardstock (80 lb)” for about 216 g/m², “Heavy Cardstock (100 lb)” for about 270 g/m². Enter the same thickness in the Card field here (0.3 mm for 250 to 300 g/m²) so the panels allow for it. Cricut Joy has no scoring tool: cut the outline and fold along a ruler.

Silhouette Studio: opening an SVG needs Designer Edition or higher; Basic Edition does not import SVG. Open the file, check the size in the Transform panel, and in the Send panel give the score lines a scoring or embossing tool, or cut them as a perforated line at low force. The optional print layer is an image inside the SVG; not every program keeps an embedded image on import, and Cricut Print Then Cut only prints up to about 6.75 × 9.25 in, so for a decorated box larger than that, print the PDF instead and cut by hand.

Can I print it without using much ink?

Choose Outline only (ink saver): the sheet prints on white with just the cut and fold lines, so a whole box uses about as much ink as a page of text. Print it on coloured or kraft card for a plain box, or pick Colour-in stars and trees for children to colour before folding. The full-colour designs, such as Christmas red or navy, cover the whole template in ink.

How to make the gift card holder

Choose Gift card holder under Style (or open this page with it selected). It is a fold-over sleeve: a front and a back hinged on a fold at the top, a pocket inside with a thumb notch, and a tab that tucks into a slot so it stays shut. The design and the To/From label print on the outside front only, turned so they read the right way up once it is folded.

1. Print at 100% and check the 20 mm bar. The whole holder is about 107 × 160 mm flat, so it prints in the middle of one A4 or Letter sheet with every line at least 6 mm from the edge.
2. Score the five dashed lines: the hinge across the middle, the pocket fold, the two short pocket-side folds and the short line at the base of the closure tab.
3. Cut the outline, then cut out the thin slot near the bottom of the back panel with a craft knife on a cutting mat. Cut the slot a hair long rather than short: the tab has to go through it.
4. Make the pocket. Fold the pocket flap up against the plain inside of the back panel, then wrap its two grey side tabs round the back's edges and glue them to the outside of the back. Keep glue off the middle so the card can slide in.
5. Close it. Slide the card into the pocket, fold the front down over it, wrap the tab round the bottom edge and tuck it into the slot.

What size is a gift card holder?

A gift card is 85.6 × 54 mm (3⅜ × 2⅛ in) and 0.76 mm thick: the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 size of every bank card. This holder makes the pocket 3 mm larger in both directions, 88.6 × 57 mm inside, plus one paper thickness between the folds, so the card slides in without catching but does not rattle about. Closed, the holder measures about 89 × 57 mm, so it slips into a C7 envelope (81 × 114 mm) or, with room to spare, a US A2 card envelope (4⅜ × 5¾ in).

Will it fit a Visa or store gift card?

Yes, if the card itself is bank-card size, which prepaid Visa and Mastercard gift cards and nearly all plastic store cards are. Two cases need a different size: a card still attached to its cardboard carrier (the backing it hangs on in the shop), and the smaller key-ring or novelty-shaped cards some shops sell. Measure the card or the carrier at its widest points and type that into Card size: the template adds the 3 mm room itself, and any size from 10 mm up works as long as the holder still fits on the paper. If it does not, the page tells you the largest card that fits.

Can I cut it on a Cricut?

Yes. Download SVG cut file gives the holder at true size with the outline and the slot in the red cut layer and the five folds in the blue score layer. A standard holder makes a 117 × 170 mm file, which fits a 12 × 12 in mat with room for a second copy beside it. In Cricut Design Space upload it, check the size matches the one shown under the buttons, set the score layer's Operation to Score, select both layers and Attach them before Make. The slot is small, so use a fresh blade and the card stock setting that matches your paper; 160 to 250 g/m² (0.2 to 0.3 mm) folds cleanly round a card. On a Cricut Joy, which has no scoring tool, cut it and score the dashed lines by hand along a ruler.

How to make a Christmas Eve box

Choose Christmas Eve box under Style (or open this page with it selected) and type the child’s name. For a shared box type two or three names, separated by commas or “and”: the label then reads “Mia & Leo’s Christmas Eve Box”. Each name can be up to 24 characters; the lettering shrinks to fit the label rather than run off it. The page adds ’s to every name, including one that ends in s (“James’s”), the form most style guides prefer for names.

1. Start with the box. Most families use a shoe box, a shop-bought gift box or a plain kraft box with a lift-off lid. Measure the top of its lid and pick the label that fits: A5 (210 × 148 mm) for a lid of at least about 22 × 16 cm, 150 × 100 mm for a smaller lid, or the 100 mm round label, which fits almost anything, including a tin or a hat box.
2. Print at 100% on matte paper, thin card or a full sheet of sticker paper. The pattern runs 1.5 mm past the trim, so a cut that wanders slightly outside the line leaves no white edge.
3. Cut between the corner marks with a ruler and a craft knife, or with scissors; cut the round label on its thin grey circle. Stick a paper label down with a glue stick or double-sided tape, working from the middle out so it lies flat.
4. Or fold the box itself. Box to fold prints this page’s lidded box with the same label on the lid. It is limited by the paper: about 150 × 100 × 45 mm is the largest that prints on A4 or Letter (base and lid on separate sheets), enough for a book, a hot chocolate sachet and a torch, but not for pyjamas. For a bigger box, use a shop-bought one and the label.
5. Fill in the card. The What’s-inside card is A6 and prints two to a sheet: one for the box and one spare, or one for a second child. Blank lines print as ruled lines you can write on by hand.

What is a Christmas Eve box?

A box of small things a child opens on the evening of 24 December, usually after tea and before bed. It shortens the longest evening of the year and helps children wind down: most boxes hold new pyjamas to wear that night, a book to read in bed and something warm to drink. The custom grew popular in the UK and Ireland during the 2010s and has spread since. There is no rule about who it comes from: some families say Santa’s elves dropped it off early, others give it from the family, which is why the card can be signed either way.

What goes in a Christmas Eve box?

Things for that evening, not presents for the morning. The usual list: new pyjamas, a Christmas book, a hot chocolate sachet with marshmallows, a film to watch together, slippers or warm socks, a bag of reindeer food to scatter outside, a small torch to look for Santa’s sleigh, and a letter to Santa to leave out with a snack and a carrot. Three to five things is plenty; the box and the ritual matter more than what it cost. Make reindeer food from oats and birdseed and leave out the glitter, which birds and other wildlife can swallow. The card’s suggestions are sentence starts (“A Christmas book to read in bed: …”) for you to finish with the real title or flavour, so the card names what is actually in the box.